Arnault Castel carries the same curiosity and energy as his 12-year-old self, a quality often lost in adulthood and especially rare for someone who has now spent decades in the retail industry. He should be jaded by now, but he loves his work too much to give it up. Arnault started Kapok almost 15 years ago when he set up a tiny boutique in a quiet corner of Hong Kong’s Tin Hau. 

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“We honestly didn't invest a lot in it. We painted the walls, went to Thailand and bought vintage furniture, basically did everything ourselves, so it was all very DIY.” — Arnault Castel

Though Arnault claims he’s not a designer or an artist, at least in any conventional sense, he has an affinity for novelties, which has become a large part of Kapok’s core DNA. Kapok’s boutiques have become a cozy neighborhood destination characterized by their clean and quirky interiors, colorful fashion and ambient music, livened up by friendly staff. If Kapok were a person, it would be Arnault.

Today, Kapok has a handful of locations across some of the busiest districts of Hong Kong. But Arnault is hesitant to share his success story. On the surface, Kapok is the perfect formula for a successful boutique, but in reality, Arnault has spent years walking over thin ice, faced with numerous make-or-break moments.

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“Some people are really wealthy and they can fail two or three times, but maybe I don't have the luxury to fail at all.”

His journey into the creative world of fashion and lifestyle began after being laid off from his banking job, pushing him to pursue the path he dreamed of since he was a child. We sat down with Arnault to discuss how he established Kapok and some advice for those chasing success.

Please describe your childhood.

I come from a beautiful small town in the south of France with a population of 8,000 people. It's in the middle of nature, very sunny. It's very relaxing and slow. I think it's great when you're a kid, but it's not very nice when you're a teenager or a young adult because there’s really not much. As a teenager, my only dream was to escape and go to a big city. 

I eventually moved close to Paris, and every weekend I would go to the city. It was like a dream come true. I still believe big cities are very important for young people. I really loved being in Paris. I think people born there might not realize how great it is. 

“I think it's up to us to make the city good or bad. If you don't like the city, then just do something.”

What made you move to Hong Kong?

So after being in Paris I thought I would stay there because it's a beautiful city and there’s a lot of opportunity. But at that time in France, we were required to go to military service for a year. I thought it would be okay since it would only be for a year. I absolutely hated it. I spent three days and was just like “I cannot do one year here.” So I looked for a way out. At the time, you could either pretend to be mentally unstable or find a job overseas, a program to help support the French economy, and you’d go for a year and a half. So I applied EVERYWHERE. All kinds of jobs. I wasn’t picky, I just wanted to be as far away from the army as possible. 

While in Paris, there was a really nice cinema next to my flat. I love movies and at the time, I was going to see films like three-four times a week. I walked by and saw this colorful poster and thought it looked good, so I went in and watched it. It was Chungking Express. No idea that it was a Hong Kong movie. Loved it. This happened the day before my final interview for this overseas program. The next day in the interview, they asked me, “where do you want to go? I said Hong Kong. I arrived in ‘96 and have been here since — more than 20 years since [laughs].

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What was it like when you first arrived?

It was very exciting. A lot of energy. I made friends easily. I was working for a bank, so it wasn’t really “the dream” but at least I was away from the military. I was partying [laughs].

“I feel that life should be a bit challenging because if things are too easy, you get comfortable and you don’t really push yourself.”

Hong Kong can be stressful at times.

Sometimes it's too hard. I feel that life should be a bit challenging because if things are too easy, you get comfortable and you don’t really push yourself. But here, sometimes you have too much pressure and you need to make sacrifices. 

Some people are really wealthy and they can fail two or three times, but maybe I don't have the luxury to fail at all. That's why it's important to be strong. Even when something bad happens, just know there’s a way out, even if it’s not easy.

How did you go from banking to the creative industry?

I made a friend who worked for Lomography. The company was based in Austria, but they wanted to launch in Asia. This person was traveling and stopped in Hong Kong. He came to a party where I was DJing and we had a long chat. The next morning, I was super hungover but we met. He said there was a lot of interest in Lomography in Asia. He wanted to open an office and wanted someone to help him with the finances. I said, “okay I will help you.” He invited me to Vienna for a couple of weeks, so I went and they offered me the job. That's the first time I started working in the creative industry. 

“It was great because we didn’t have to do the business in a conventional way. We started distributing Moleskine in Asia, and we started with Hong Kong.”

What was it like working for them?

They were really fun people. They started the company when they were students and they did everything. They had this spontaneous attitude with their business. They didn't try to run it like a traditional company. It was like going to school and getting paid to learn how to grow a business. After five years, we were doing well but it grew to a point where all the freedom we had in the beginning was gone, so my business partner and I decided to do our own thing. Honestly, we had like 50 different ideas.

Can you give us a few examples? 

[Laughs] you know, things like cool city guides. We were going through different ideas and then we came across Moleskine. I saw it in Paris and thought these people were super smart because they did a great job with branding — we decided to contact these guys. 

“We became known for doing parties and we started doing them at least twice a week. A lot of people were coming.”

Was Moleskine big in Asia then?

They weren’t in Asia, but we told them we helped build Lomography and that we had a network of stores. Moleskine was tiny. They had 12 people and were just starting to expand. They gave Moleskine to us and we were the first to bring Moleskine into Asia. In Hong Kong, it was just me and my partner working in a small room but business quickly exploded. 

One day I was just like, “okay, I cannot just wait for things to happen.”

How did you start Kapok?

We had an office for our distribution company but we decided to use the space for a store. In the beginning, the store was always empty. One day I was just like, “okay, I cannot just wait for things to happen.” I knew a lot of people and artists from my time at Lomography and Moleskine, and they always talked about having no gallery to show their work, so we started doing exhibitions once a month. We became known for doing parties and we started doing them at least twice a week. We got a lot of support from local magazines. 

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What’s Kapok’s target audience?

Since I’m French, people expected me to target expats, but I didn’t because I knew expats were doing most of their shopping in their home countries. I knew if I wanted to build my business, it would have to be Hong Kong customers. I think that’s how we were able to last 15 years. We always knew we wanted to serve Hong Kong customers. But I don’t really believe in targeting customers. Working for Lomography and Moleskine, I learned that traditional marketing works, but you need so much money. If you don’t have a lot of funding, you need to do something completely different. So I don't really have a target age or gender, I always mix things up. I just know what I like and that’s what’s happening in the store. 

We have customers that are young, but also customers in their fifties and sixties, which is very rare. Normally everything is separate. We have this great mix of generations.

Can you describe Kapok’s brand identity?

We always say, “Future Classics.” We’ve had this tagline for the last 15 years. When you create something, I think it's good to have some consistency. I’m super curious so I get excited about everything. I think there are two types of people: very nerdy and Otaku, or people who like a bit of everything. Maybe I don’t have super deep knowledge in a particular thing, but I like everything. That’s me, and that’s Kapok. It’s not a random store, either. It's not about nostalgia. It’s not about being futuristic. It's about now. Products made by current and active designers, not trends that will only last six months, but things that have potential to become classics.

“We’re very interested in everyday products, but we upgrade them. We all need to use toothpaste, drinking glasses and other things like that.”

How did you come up with the name Kapok?

My sister did. The first store was in a small alley and there was a big tree in front, and I wanted the store to be named after a tree. Kapok is pronounced the same in French. Kapok tree. A Kapok tree is used to make cotton so it’s got this very cozy and soft feel. My sister was saying it one day, and it just stuck with me because it was so easy to remember.

Later on I found out “Kapok” in Cantonese is known as a “hero tree” because it always tries to outgrow neighboring trees. Eventually this creates a kind of shelter for animals and this whole ecosystem. 

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Was there any point where you felt you wanted to give up?

Retail is beautiful, but it's very tough. 

“When you tell the story, it seems very fun and exciting, but the real story is that there have been numerous times where things became very tense and stressful.”

I think people also need to know that I made a lot of mistakes. At some point, it seemed everything was fine, but all of a sudden I realized I had too much inventory. Then I had problems with overheads when rent became crazy. I opened in other countries, too — Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, but now I just have Hong Kong. Tomorrow, we’re opening a Vitra store.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?

Start small. I mean, it depends, I think it's good to have investors later on when you're stable. I also believe in balancing business and creativity. You can’t just be driven by spreadsheets, but you also can’t have it be a vanity project. You do have to make sales. We’re here to make people happy. I need to be happy, too, but it’s not just about me. You need to find the right balance and really connect with customers. Another piece of advice is, 

“when things go wrong, don't freak out. Sometimes, things go bad, but we need to have the strength to get through it.”